1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to surgical instruments. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a surgical stapling device that has a feedback and a timer device. Even more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a surgical stapling device that has a controller to modulate one or more parameters of the surgical stapling device and to provide for compression of tissue. Still even more particularly, the present disclosure relates to a surgical stapling device that may also include a sensory indicator (i.e., visual, audible, tactile) which determines position, time, or other valuable user feedback.
2. Background of the Related Art
Once under pressure from a jawed structure, such as a clamping device, of a surgical stapler, the body tissue will slowly compress. Compression by a clamping device reduces the amount of blood and fluid to the clamped tissue. Without such compression, an uncompressed body tissue remains thicker whereas the compressed body tissue would be thinner, and more compact. Compressing the tissue also causes blood and other fluid to generally traverse from the high pressure or compressed area to another low pressure or adjacent area.
Once released, the fluid due to the visco-elastic property of the tissue will return from the adjacent area to the previously compressed tissue. Some current surgical stapling devices initially compress tissue prior to the introduction of the staple into the body tissue. The amount of time tissue is compressed is currently left to the discretion of the surgeon. The surgeon manually controls the amount of time that the tissue is compressed prior to firing the staples into tissue. It would be therefore desirable to have a surgical stapling device that consistently fires staples after a predetermined amount of compression.